The pendulum swung back for mortgage rates this week, with rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages averaging higher for the first time this year, according to the Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®). The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averages 4.19 percent with an average 0.4 point, while the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averages 3.40 percent with an average 0.4 point. The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averages 3.20 percent, also with an average 0.4 point.

“The 2.8 percent decline in existing-home sales in December is a reminder of the lack of homes for sale,” Becketti says. “According to the National Association of REALTORS®, supply is at its lowest level since 1999, a factor that should support higher house prices regardless of the oscillations of the mortgage rate.”